1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle brake adjustment monitoring systems and more particularly pertains to a new Brake Adjustment Monitoring System for displaying the status of the brake adjustment of each of a vehicle's brakes and warning the vehicle operator of a serious maladjustment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of vehicle brake adjustment monitoring systems is known in the prior art. More specifically, vehicle brake adjustment monitoring systems heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art vehicle brake adjustment monitoring systems include U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,509; U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,964; U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,438; U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,069; U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,712 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,603.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new Brake Adjustment Monitoring System. The system is for use with a vehicle having an air brake system including a plurality of air chambers, each air chamber being secured to an undercarriage of the vehicle by an air chamber mounting bracket such that it is stationary with respect thereto, the air brake system further including a plurality of push rods having a threaded extension at one end thereof, the push rods being movable with respect to the undercarriage and extending from each air chamber for linear motion with respect thereto, and a braking mechanism including a slack adjuster operably connected to each push rod threaded extension through a push rod clevis. The inventive device includes a push rod movement measuring means coupled to each push rod for providing a first signal representative of the linear motion of the push rod to a first position and a second signal representative of the linear motion of the push rod to a second position, the first and second positions indicating successively greater linear motion of the push rod and thereby representing greater degrees of maladjustment of each brake, an alarm means, a display means and a switching means operably coupled to the push rod movement measuring means for providing the first and second signals to a controller means, the controller means for processing the first and second signals, for providing an alarm signal to the alarm means and for providing a display signal to the display means.
In these respects, the Brake Adjustment Monitoring System according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of displaying the status of the brake adjustment of each of the vehicle's brakes and warning the vehicle operator of a serious maladjustment.